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Michael Corleone
Don Michael Corleone was the head of the Corleone family following the demise of his father. Biography and the young Michael.]] Born in 1920, to Vito and Carmela Corleone, Michael was deeply loved by his father, even prompting Vito to murder blackmailer Massimo Fanucci so he could support Michael and the rest of his family. He became a bright and handsome young man, and of all of Vito Corleone's children, Michael was said to be most like him in terms of intelligence, personality, and cunning. The Prodigal Son wedding.]] Michael initially wanted nothing to do with the Corleone's "family business," even though everyone assumed that he would take over from his father, and enrolled at Dartmouth College in order to escape it. After the United States' entry into World War II in 1941, he enlisted in the Marines (training under Sergeant Bradshaw) and fought in the Pacific, despite his father's express command not to do so. For his bravery in battle, Michael was awarded the Navy Cross, he was also featured in Life magazine in 1944. Michael was discharged as a Captain to recover from wounds in 1945 (unbeknownst to him, the doctor treating him had been bribed by his father to exaggerate his injury in order to send him home). He would later re-enter Dartmouth, where he would meet his future wife Kay Adams. However, when his father was nearly assassinated in 1945, he volunteered to murder the men responsible, Virgil Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey, a police captain who was acting as Sollozzo's bodyguard, follow McCluskey's assault on Michael at the hospital in Little Italy. Michael showed his cunning when he suggested that the family use their contacts in the newspaper to play up McCluskey's connection to the drug lord Sollozzo, thereby relieving some of the flack that the Corleones would receive afterward. After committing the murders, Michael fled to Sicily, under the watch of Don Tommasino. Sicily Under the protection of his father's old friend Lionele Tommasino, whilst living in his Dr. Taza's house, Michael remained in hiding for two years, where he learned of the Mafia's roots. While in Sicily, he fell in love with, and soon married, a beautiful young woman named Apollonia, but she was killed by a car bomb intended for Michael. After this, Michael decided to fully join his father's business. During this time, Michael was visted by Clemenza, who told him that his father wants him to escort Salvatore Giuliano safely back to America with him. As he learns more about Guiliano's reputation and exploits, Michael becomes extremely intrigued to meet him, but Giuliano was killed by his dearest friend, cousin, and second in command Gaspare Pisciotta. Upon returning from Sicily Michael speaks with his father who proceeds to explain what happened with the plan to escort Giuliano from Sicily and how it all went wrong, that ultimately Michael was used as a pawn to ensure his own safety in a deal Vito made with Don Croce Malo to obtain evidence collected by Giuliano to use against Don Croce and the Christian democratic party, without the evidence in his possession, Giuliano's days were numbered and his fate was sealed after he made a final but failed attempt on Don Croce. Michael voices his thoughts with Vito who tells him"That is Sicily..." . Michael's time in Sicily has a profound effect on him. The New Don While in Sicily, he learned that his older brother Sonny had been murdered and he returned to New York in 1947. There, he reluctantly became involved in his family's criminal enterprises, taking over for his deceased brother as head of the family under Vito's supervision and subtly attacking the other families' businesses through the use of his secret caporegime, Rocco Lampone. He married Kay a year later. Michael tried to buy out casino owner Moe Greene's stake in the casino, intending to move his family to Nevada. After his father's retirement in 1954, he became Don of the Corleone crime family. Before his death in 1955, Vito had warned Michael that after he was gone, the head of the rival Barzini family would make an attempt on his life under the pretense of organizing a meeting to make peace between the two families. After his father's caporegime, Salvatore Tessio, inadvertently revealed that he had conspired with Emilio Barzini against him, Michael arranged the murders of the leaders of the New York Mafia's other ruling families Dons: Barzini, Phillip Tattaglia, Carmine Cuneo, and Victor Stracci, as well as Greene, Tessio, and Carlo Rizzi, his brother-in-law, who beat his sister Connie and sold out Sonny. When Connie finds out that Michael had Carlo killed while he stood godfather to their baby, she flies into a rage. Michael dismisses it as hysteria, and when pressed by Kay, denies any involvement in the murder to placate her. Just moments later, however, he meets with his capos, Clemenza addressing him as "Don Corleone". Unbeknownst to Michael, Kay is watching this meeting, and realizes that Connie was telling the truth after all — and that her husband has become the new Don. The Move to Nevada .]] A few years after the move to Nevada, Michael, now in his mid-thirties, had tried to remove all criminal ties to his family, and made Pete Clemenza head of the Corleone family in New York. Clemenza died of a supposed heart attack, and was replaced by family friend and soldier Frank Pentangeli. His efforts at redeeming the family were largely unsuccessful, however, as his many enemies kept him involved in the crime underworld. After beginning to work out a deal with business partner and rival Hyman Roth over control of casino operations, Roth manipulated Michael's brother Fredo into unwittingly providing him with information used to arrange an attempt on Michael's life. He also attempted to murder Pentangeli before convincing the Capo that Michael was to blame. Michael and Roth travelled to Cuba under Fulgencio Batista to forge a partnership with the Cuban Government, allowing them to be free to conduct their operations in Cuba without interference from the authorities, in return for generous payments to Batista. While in Cuba, Michael sent his loyal bodyguard Bussetta to eliminate Roth on New Year's Eve, while the old man was hospitalized. That night, he discovered Fredo had been in cahoots with Roth, leading Fredo to flee during Castro's takeover that night, during which Bussetta failed to kill Roth, and was instead killed. Roth survived and attempted to flee to Israel. The Culling Back in the U.S., Kay became unable to accept her husband's criminal activities. Kay revealed she had aborted their child because she did not want to give Michael another son. Hurt and angered by this second betrayal, Michael divorces Kay and severs ties with her, forbidding her to take care of the children. This happened at the same time as the Senate Mafia Hearings, where Frank Pentangeli had been persuaded to testify against Michael, but the arrival of his brother Vincenzo made him renounce his testimony. Fredo returned to Tahoe at this point, and Michael severed all ties with his brother following the revelation that Fredo had withheld vital information from him about the hearings, namely that the Senate lawyer, Questadt, belonged to Roth. Following the death of Carmela Corleone and at the behest of his sister Connie, Michael appeared to reconcile with his brother, but secretly ordered Fredo's murder to be carried out, an act he would regret for the rest of his life and eventually confess to the future pope. He also sent Rocco Lampone to kill Roth at Miami airport. An Old Foe Returns Michael's troubles were only momentarily halted, for his treacherous capo, Nick Geraci soon re-emerged, having lived in a cave near Lake Erie following his departure from the family. Michael sent out a manhunt against him, led by Tommy Neri and the DiMiceli brothers, but this failed due to the unreliability of Michael's CIA contact, Joe Lucadello. At this time, Carlo Tramonti, the Don of New Orleans caused a stir in the Commission by announcing his plans to assassinate President James Shea. Eventually, Geraci was brought out into the open with the help of Don Stracci and Don Frank Greco. Michael had his former associate executed by Eddie Paradise during an ambush on Staten Island. Don Tramonti and the treacherous Lucadello were also killed. Seeking Legitimacy By 1979, Michael, now 59 years old, had taken great steps to making the family legitimate, preparing to hand over his interests in gambling to the other Mafia families, setting up a charitable foundation, and even being recognized by the Vatican for his good works. This new connection to the Church gave Michael the opportunity to purchase a controlling stake in the large property company, Immobiliare. He also began to rekindle his relationship with Kay, as well as taking Sonny's illegitimate son, Vincent Mancini, under his wing, after the headstrong youth attacked Michael's subversive New York boss, Joey Zasa, at a party. Zasa later wiped out most the Commission, yet Michael and his old friend Don Altobello escaped. Michael had a stroke, and whilst incapacitated, Connie gave Vincent and Al Neri the go-ahead to kill Zasa. The Immobiliare Plot Michael soon discovered that Immobiliare, specifically the wily Licio Lucchesi and the scheming Archbishop Gilday were out to fleece him, and he sought the assistance Don Tommasino. Tommasino directed him to the honest Cardinal Lamberto, to whom Michael confessed his sins, including the murder of Fredo. Michael later returned to Sicily to watch Anthony perform at the Teatro Massimo. However, he soon became aware of an assassin, Mosca de Montelepre, whom Don Altobello, in league with the plotters, had hired to kill him. Montelepre killed Tommasino, and Michael vowed before his dead friend's coffin, to sin no more. Retirement Following this vow, weary of the bloody, lonely life of a Don, Michael retired and made his nephew the new head of the family, on condition that he end the relationship with Mary. Realising that powerful interests in Italian politics and business were working to prevent the family's takeover of Immobiliare, Michael, with Vinnie's assistance, once again prepared to move against his enemies. This bloody wave of murders took place as Michael, reconciled with Kay and Anthony, watched his son perform in the opera Cavalleria Rusticana. That same night, however, Mary was inadvertently killed in an assassination attempt on her father, being shot to death in front of her whole family. Devastated by this loss, Michael retired to Sicily and bought Don Tomassino's old villa. He died there in 1997, seemingly distraught and alone, of a stroke while sitting in a chair in front of his villa. Family Members *Vito Corleone — Father *Carmela Corleone — Mother *Tom Hagen — Adopted brother & Consigliere *Andrew Hagen — Adopted nephew, and godson, son of Tom Hagen *Santino Corleone — Eldest brother, Underboss to Vito *Connie Corleone — Sister *Fredo Corleone — Elder brother, Underboss to Michael *Apollonia Vitelli — First Wife *Kay Adams — Second Wife *Anthony Corleone — Son *Mary Corleone — Daughter *Vincent Mancini — Nephew and succeeding Don *Antonio Andolini — Grandfather *Signora Andolini — Grandmother Personality and traits Michael was the strongest of the Corleone family, though not originally. He originally wanted nothing to do with the family business, but had quickly been pulled in after the assassination attempt on his father. When Michael volunteered to assassinate Sollozzo, everyone, especially Sonny, was surprised. To do this, Michael needed to know how to quickly use a gun and dispose of it, which he learned from Clemenza. Despite Michael's quick rise in ranks of the Corleones, he would rarely ever use a gun. However, where he really shined in was business. Michael chose to legitimize the family and cut all ties with the Mafia. He moved to Nevada and quickly turned the family into a successful business venture. He would only deal with people that had reasonable business connections and more or less knew his father. He despised hotshot business men like Moe Greene for not showing him or at least his family some respect. Michael loved his family, but had a selfish reason for having Anthony, as he wanted him to follow in his footsteps. When he showed no interest in the business, Michael chose to have another son. This dream was cut short, however, as the boy Kay was to have was aborted. This was seen as one of the few times Michael ever showed anger at her. In Michael's final days as the don of the Corleones, he was stricken by grief when his only daughter, Mary, was killed in an assassination attempt on his life. This made Michael swear off the mob life forever, and gave up his position in favor of his nephew Vincent. Real life sources Michael Corleone is believed to be loosely based on gangsters Joseph Bonanno and Vito Genovese. Bonanno became boss at a very young age and re-located a part of his businesses to Arizona in the 1960s. Genovese had fled to Sicily in the 1930s due to murder charges and ordered the deaths of rival bosses in the 1950s. Bonanno was known for his business acumen, while Genovese was known for his cunning and ruthlessness. However, Michael's papal recognition and charity funds may well be inspired by Joe Profaci's quest for papal approval. Like Michael, Profaci donated to Catholic charities and a group of leading Italian-Americans, including priests, petitioned the Pope to confer a knighthood on Profaci, which was eventually denied. Behind the scenes Michael Corleone is the main character and protagonist in The Godfather film series, in which he is portrayed by Al Pacino. Don Corleone, as portrayed by Pacino, is ranked as the eighth greatest movie character of all time by Total Film Magazine, and is recognized as the 11th most iconic villain in film history by the American Film Institute. Notes and references External links *Fact and Fiction in The Godfather Corleone, Michael Corleone, Michael Corleone, Michael Corleone, Michael